At least in the US, I believe that even Christian conservatism is a threat to democracy. Here’s why.
Prior to the 60s, maybe even the 70s, US politics was so about common ground and compromise. Pretty frequently, one side felt the other was wrong about how to go about something, but agreed on the end goal.
But when conservative politicians decided to align with Christians, specifically evangelical christians, they cast the other side as not just wrong, but evil. Democrats, they said, were a tool of Satan, and wanted to destroy America.
At that point, compromise began to end. You can compromise with someone you think is wrong, but you don’t compromise with someone you think it’s evil.
Much of today’s ills stem from that decision. And it’s worth noting that the politicians generally didn’t believe the arguments they made. For instance, that’s when they started talking about abortion killing babies, but before that, Republicans generally thought abortion was a personal freedom and argued in favor of it. It was all generally a way to get more conservatives elected so they could enact more favorable tax laws.
Prior to the 60s, maybe even the 70s, US politics was so about common ground and compromise. Pretty frequently, one side felt the other was wrong about how to go about something, but agreed on the end goal.
This is so wrong it’s comical. Political parties were run like crime syndicates in many ways. Local politics was routinely about graft and corruption, especially in poorer neighborhoods. The word “cooping” means “a form of electoral fraud in the United States… by which citizens were kidnapped off the street and forced to vote, often several times over, for an election candidate.”
I didn’t say it was always more polite, and of course there are examples of people using all sorts of illegal tactics to get or retain power. None of that in any way invalidates the fact that we had a very long period of getting things done by compromise and not completely alienating the other side. Today, that’s the norm, not the exception. Sometimes it seems like it’s more important for politicians to keep the other side from scoring a point than getting their own goals met.
At least in the US, I believe that even Christian conservatism is a threat to democracy. Here’s why.
Prior to the 60s, maybe even the 70s, US politics was so about common ground and compromise. Pretty frequently, one side felt the other was wrong about how to go about something, but agreed on the end goal.
But when conservative politicians decided to align with Christians, specifically evangelical christians, they cast the other side as not just wrong, but evil. Democrats, they said, were a tool of Satan, and wanted to destroy America.
At that point, compromise began to end. You can compromise with someone you think is wrong, but you don’t compromise with someone you think it’s evil.
Much of today’s ills stem from that decision. And it’s worth noting that the politicians generally didn’t believe the arguments they made. For instance, that’s when they started talking about abortion killing babies, but before that, Republicans generally thought abortion was a personal freedom and argued in favor of it. It was all generally a way to get more conservatives elected so they could enact more favorable tax laws.
I agree 100%.
They use a few particular wedge issues to create voters who will vote one way regardless of any other considerations.
It doesn’t matter in the slightest if the actions of Republican politicians conflict with their platforms.
This is so wrong it’s comical. Political parties were run like crime syndicates in many ways. Local politics was routinely about graft and corruption, especially in poorer neighborhoods. The word “cooping” means “a form of electoral fraud in the United States… by which citizens were kidnapped off the street and forced to vote, often several times over, for an election candidate.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooping
Also, you know… the whole Civil War thing. Politics is much more polite today. People are no longer beaten senseless on the floor of the Senate.
I didn’t say it was always more polite, and of course there are examples of people using all sorts of illegal tactics to get or retain power. None of that in any way invalidates the fact that we had a very long period of getting things done by compromise and not completely alienating the other side. Today, that’s the norm, not the exception. Sometimes it seems like it’s more important for politicians to keep the other side from scoring a point than getting their own goals met.